Society members, currently numbering nearly 1,000, bring a variety of expertise from such fields as oncology, pathology, radiology, nuclear medicine, endocrinology, surgery and gastroenterology, to ENETS.

ENETS' founding members

The founding members are (l. to r.): Hakan Ahlman, Göteborg, Sweden; Bertram Wiedenmann, Berlin, Germany; Ola Nilsson, Göteborg; Barbro Eriksson, Uppsala, Sweden; Kjell Öberg, Uppsala; Ursula Plöckinger, Berlin; Philippe Ruszniewski, Clichy, France; Guido Rindi, Parma, Italy; Martyn Caplin, London.

Founding members not pictured: Rudolf Arnold of Marburg, Germany, Wouter de Herder of Rotterdam, The Netherlands and Gianfranco Delle Fave of Rome.

The founding members sought to unify neuroendocrine tumor disease research among European medical professionals. The primary aim was to integrate basic and clinical research with teaching and to establish guidelines for the diagnosis and therapy of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP NETs). In 2004 and 2005, the "Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Neuroendocrine Gastrointestinal Tumours" were developed and, in April 2005, were published in the journal [k]Neuroendocrinology[/k]. Revised Guidelines followed in 2006 and 2007, along with TNM classifications. In 2011, the Guidelines were updated again.

ENETS has gradually attracted members from throughout Europe, and has expanded into the new EU member states, Russia, Australia, South America, Canada, China, India, and the U.S. At the same time, the Society has formed valuable relationships within the pharmaceutical industry, namely with Novartis Pharma AG in Basel, Switzerland, and IPSEN Biotech in Paris and also Pfizer. ENETS cooperates with the German Neuroendocrine Tumor Network (NET-WORKs), UKI-NETs, and similar organizations in most member countries.